Ocean Defenders Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
320065856
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2012
Location
Huntington Beach, CA, USA
Phone
7145848782
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management

Reported finances

Revenue
$549,572
Expenses
$379,437
Assets
$646,218
Liabilities
$24,576

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KURT LIEBER (BOARD PRESIDENT/MANAG. DIR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KURT LIEBER (BOARD PRESIDENT/MANAG. DIR): $80,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Ocean defenders alliance (oda) works to clean and protect marine ecosystems through documentation, education, and meaningful action. Working with affected communities, we focus primarily on the reduction and removal of man-made debris that pose serious threats to the ocean.

What it reported doing in 2024

Marine debris removal: safely locate, remove, and dispose of man-made pollution from the oceans, leaving marine habitat and wildlife safe to thrive. The debris is primarily nets, traps, hooks, and lines abandoned by commercial and recreational fishing operations, but a large amount of trash (mostly plastic) is collected as well. The majority of oda's work is done at sea from aboard our vessels. Our boat crews consist of volunteer deckhands, mechanics, and divers. The captain of our flagship "mr. Barker's legasea" is usually oda founder and president kurt lieber. In Hawaii, we charter vessels from our partner organizations. We also conduct onshore cleanups in harbors, along shorelines and inland waterways, and we conduct "plastic patrols" (surface plastic collections from a small boat) in harbors when weather inhibits open ocean work. Current coverage areas include the coastal waters of California and Hawaii. We have chapters on the islands of hawai'i, maui, and oahu. Along any coastline where fishing occurs, oda's cleanup and renewal work is needed, so we are considering expansion as time and resources permit.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 84% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 75
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56.4%; rating input score 56
  • Program expense ratio: 81.6%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.6%; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 31%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.7; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.1%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 56.4% of revenue deployed · 81.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $310K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $80K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.